The Target logo has changed several times, with the most significant change being the use of a single circle with a dot in the middle, rather than the original three circle symbol.

Mission statement

From the Target Corporation website:

“Our mission is to make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less.^® brand promise.

To support our mission, we are guided by our commitments to great value, the community, diversity and the environment.”

Brand history

R.S Goodfellow Company was acquired by George Dayton in 1901. He soon changed the name to the Dayton Dry Goods Company, then the Dayton Company in 1910. The first Target discount store wasn’t opened until 1963. In 1969 a major merger occurred between Dayton Company and J.L. Hudson Company. This merged group then acquired Mervyn’s in 1978 and Marshall Field’s in 1990. It wasn’t until 2000 that the Target brand name was used in the title of the company, when the original name - “Dayton Company”, was dropped and replaced by “Target Corporation”. The name change was made as over 75 per cent of the corporation’s revenue was from the Target division. The Target Corporation announced in 2001 that its Dayton’s and Hudson’s brands would operate under the Marshall Field’s brand, rather than how the three brands had previously been operating, as a single unit known as the Department Store Division. In 2004 Target Corporation announced the sale of the Marshall Field’s chain and several Mervyn’s stores, followed by the sale of the remaining Mervyn’s stores later that year.

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Logo

The Target logo is a red circle with a dot in the middle to symbolize a bulls-eye, with the brand name in capital lettering underneath which is also red.

Strapline

Target use the slogan ‘Expect More. Pay Less.’ The company refers to the slogan as a brand promise rather than just a catchphrase, and it is promoted widely in virtually all Target advertising campaigns.

Sponsorships

Target owns the rights to a baseball park; Target Field, and an arena; Target Centre, home to various Minnesota sports teams.

Target is a long term sponsor of the Chip Ganassi Racing team of IndyCar, and also sponsors NASCAR.

Target Corporation is a major sponsor of the annual Minneapolis Aquatennial, where it hosts the Target Fireworks Show, which is the fourth largest annual fireworks show in the United States.

The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, New York is also sponsored by Target, where it hosts Target Free Friday Nights whereby all visitors may enter the museum free of charge on Friday’s after 4 p.m. Target sponsors various other museums and art exhibitions in a similar way, giving visitors free admission on a certain day of the week.